Another week, another ugly loss for the Cincinnati Bengals, this one being a brutal 47-42 defeat at the hands of the Chicago Bears.
This game started off with a sizzle. Charlie Jones returned the opening kickoff 99 yards for a touchdown behind some amazing blocking on the left side. A nice early seven for the home team is always nice.
What isn’t nice are long drives by the opposing teams for touchdowns. Caleb Williams and company were stopped early in their opening drive, but kept alive by a penalty for illegal contact. It only took them three more plays to get to Cincinnati’s 10. The defense forced a fourth down, but Chicago hit them with a Philly Special, and wide receiver DJ Moore threw a touchdown to Williams.
After the Bengals settled for a field goal, the Bears sustained another long drive. This time, 11 plays for almost six minutes. The Bengals’ defense continued to struggle to get to the quarterback and slow down the run, as the Bears averaged roughly 7 yards per rush for most of the game.
A noteworthy sequence during this drive was when the defense forced the Bears to settle for a field goal. The kicker even missed it. However, the blocking unit was lined up offside, which set up a fourth-down conversion and eventually a 15-yard touchdown pass for Williams.
A few drives later, Flacco and the offense caught fire, finally. Big plays to Andrei Iosivas and Chase set up the offense around the 5-yard line. Well, it did until after Chase dropped a beautiful fade ball for a touchdown, Orlando Brown Jr. got hit with an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. That led them to settle for a field goal to cut the deficit to one point. Yet another unforced error.
After Cincinnati’s defense got a goal-line stand to force a Chicago field goal on the following drive, Flacco and Tee Higgins broke things wide open. Flacco laid out a long ball for Higgins one-on-one, and he worked his way inside and made an incredible catch through contact. Then waltzed in for the go-ahead touchdown.
The Bears put together another good drive prior to halftime, but the Bengals’ special team unit got a piece of the kick to force the miss.
Rookie running back Kyle Monangai already had a great first half against this defense, but he continued that performance, as he had roughly 40 total yards on the drive. It ended with fellow rookie Colston Loveland’s first NFL touchdown as he easily beat Cam Taylor-Britt in coverage to help the Bears retake the lead.
Flacco was quick to answer with a couple of big plays on the next drive. First to tight end Tanner Hudson and then Mitchell Tinsley did what he does best, making a leaping catch to get on the goal line. Eventually, Higgins makes a great move after the catch to get into the end zone and regain the lead 27-24.
The Bears didn’t have to drag out their next drive. Williams hit Loveland for a 30-yard play, and then their backup running back hit a wide-open running lane for a 22-yard touchdown run. The Bears’ offense came right back on the field after Flacco fumbled on the next drive, but the defense forced a field goal to keep it as a one-possession game.
The Bengals’ offense was getting into striking distance when Flacco was forced into an intentional grounding due to pressure in his face after his receiver tried to make a move to get open, so he was no longer in the area. That led to it being 4th-and-13 from the Bears’ 36-yard line. Zac Taylor hesitated and ended up running the kicking unit out late, and Evan McPherson’s 54-yard field goal came up short.
Chicago quickly put the nail in the coffin. Monangai ran for 39 yards, and then Moore ran for 17 yards. Initially, he was ruled out of bounds early. The Bengals challenged the play as he appeared to possibly lose the ball as he extended it for the goal line, but instead, it showed Moore actually scored a touchdown on the play to make it a two-touchdown lead with just under five minutes left in the game.
The Bengals’ offense got down to the goal line, and Flacco threw an interception that was initially returned all the way for a touchdown, but it was later reviewed that he was down by contact at the Bears’ 4-yard line.
The Bengals’ defense got a stop pretty quickly. Flacco led a 32-second touchdown drive, hitting Noah Fant for a touchdown down the seam. Then they got the 2-point conversion.
What was really huge was the special teams getting the onside kick. The ball hit the foot of a Chicago player, and the Bengals were able to dive on it and win the dog pile.
What a magic man finish by Flacco. He had big plays to Higgins and Brown to set up the go-ahead touchdown to Iosivas. They left 50 seconds on the clock with just a one-point lead.
That was too much time for this defense. Williams was able to hit Loveland down the middle of the field. He absorbed a hit and just kept running, ultimately for a touchdown. They failed the 2-point conversion, making it 47-42.
This loss really kills the season. This team could not afford these kinds of losses to teams like the New York Jets and Bears to stay in the playoff race. The defense was absolutely abysmal, allowing over 40 points.
At this point, something major needs to change because it is unacceptable. They just faced two very beatable teams and just let both opportunities slip away. This time, they even wasted an amazing offensive effort in comeback attempts from Flacco.
At this point, it is hard to believe it is worth Joe Burrow returning from his injury early. It has been said, but even his return doesn’t fix the major issues defensively. It gets boring repeating it, but the missed tackles, penalties, and general bad angles are just too consistent.